The reported selection of Defence Secretary, Shashi Kant Sharma, who is tipped to take over as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) after Vinod Rai retires today, is “illegal and unconstitutional”, senior lawyer and Aam Aadmi Party leader, Prashant Bhushan, said here on Tuesday.
At a press conference, Bhushan alleged ‘conflict of interest’ as Sharma was the Director General-Acquistions in Defence Ministry during 2003-10, when defence deals such as Agusta Westalnd helicopters, Scorpene etc took place, which were under probe.
“Will he conduct a fair audit of the purchases cleared during his tenure?” Bhushan said, adding that “such a long period for a bureaucrat in the same Ministry is unusual.”
He said his party would “seriously consider” challenging Sharma’s selection in court, saying that it ‘compromised’ the principle of ‘institutional integrity’ laid down by the Supreme Court. In 2011, the apex court had struck down the appointment of P.J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner as there was a pending chargesheet against him in the palmolein import scam.
While appreciating the “fearless’ role played by many bureaucrats such as Rai, Bhushan flayed the lack of transparency in the selection of watchdogs, such as CAG, which were handling crucial audit cases such as the KG-D6 basin case, involving the Mukesh Ambani-led Relaince Industries.
He distributed the Department of Economic Affairs’ reply to an RTI, in which it admitted to that there was no formal system for appointment/selection of CAG, which was done only in terms of ‘past conventions and practices’.
Also, no selection committee or collegium is constituted for the purpose and the decision is based on a note moved by the Finance Ministry, after which a recommendation is made to the President of India.
Bhushan also flayed key Opposition parties, such as BJP, and the mainstream media for being ‘silent’ on such as crucial issue involving public finances.